sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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I was thinking about the idea of getting councils to turn street lights off while people are asleep to save money on local council taxes.
It was a good idea, but then I thought, heck the demand for elecricity is low when people are asleep and it's probably "cheap as chips" because noone else wants to use it 
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000 
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RussL
Music Maker
Reged: 03/18/08
Posts: 1573
Loc: Cayce, SC
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Nah, ain't gonna happen. People are too worried about crime. That's the main reason for lights at night anyway, except for advertising. Too bad we have to put up with thugs. I bet the skies would've been polluted a thousand years ago if they had had the abilities we have today. Just as soon as we could do it, we lit up the night. 
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--Russell
"Akita mani yo." Observe everything as you walk. (--Lakota)
Celestron Celestar 8 Standard SCT, f10
Celestron 80mm Wide View ref., f5
Criterion RV-6 Dynascope, Newt., f8, (c. 1962)
Sears Discoverer 60mm ref., f7, (c. 1973)
Celestron Ultima DX 10x50, 6.5 TFOV
Tasco 7x35 wide
Several mediocre eyepieces
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panhard
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/20/08
Posts: 2528
Loc: Markham Ont.
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Quote:
Nah, ain't gonna happen. People are too worried about crime. That's the main reason for lights at night anyway, except for advertising. Too bad we have to put up with thugs. I bet the skies would've been polluted a thousand years ago if they had had the abilities we have today. Just as soon as we could do it, we lit up the night.
But it would help if the lighting used for advertising where shut off after 1 or 2 am. 
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Orion xt10i
8 & 17mm Hyperion eye pieces
koning 32mm 25mm skywatcher eyepieces
lumicon 0111 & antares variable polarizing filters
12x50 binos
A love for this hobby
"What goes around comes around."
"She who must be obeyed."
Herb c
cloudy nights my # 1 site
43.53°n 79.17°w
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Illinois
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/18/06
Posts: 556
Loc: near Chicago, Illinois USA
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Remove few streetlights! Chicago have too many streetlights that not need! I live in Niles one streetlight every corner street and Chciago probably have 5 or 6 streetlight per block! Remove half plus upgrade lamps that reduce glare and the sky would be improve!
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Astronomer since 1975!
Meade 16" Lightbridge Dobsonian
Orion 10" SkyQuest Classic Dobsonian
Tele Vue Eyepieces
Orion Expanse Wide-Field 6mm eyepiece
4.5" F5 Reflector since 1982!
Orion Narrowband and SkyGlow filters
Member of IDA, let's fight light pollution!
Old Edmund 6"F8...donated to cousins
Super Polaris C8...donated to Byron Observatory in Illinois
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biggles
super member
Reged: 10/12/06
Posts: 103
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 The lights off idea has been trialed in parts of Essex (and other areas) and the results are positive.
The lights are off from midnight to five am and the local police report zero increase in crime in these areas.
I think they plan to continue.
They are probably swayed by the carbon footprint argument more than likely...well hopefuly other local authorities will follow suit! 
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 4921
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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thankfully we don't have street lights around here just the mall down the street!
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Seymour Solar filter
Backyard Observatory
 -Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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John Fitzgerald
In Focus
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 1218
Loc: AR
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They will be turned off when there is insufficient base load electricity to run them, starting in about five years in some parts of the country.
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?
Observing since 1966
Messier Cert #898
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sang33ta
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 539
Loc: UK
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What we need to do is encourage electric cars so they get charged up on cheap night electricity so there is demand for energy and then towns will be priced out of street lighting
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov
Celestron Advanced CG5-GT Mount (Mr Noisy!)
Meade 4000 Super Plossl Set
Casio QV-2900UX
Got fed up of waiting for Meade ETX-150 so put this together for £500/$1000
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FirstSight
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/26/05
Posts: 2511
Loc: Raleigh, NC
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What's eventually likely to come is LED-based street lighting, which is much more efficient power-wise than current sodium-based lights. This represents both an opportunity and a threat to night-sky friendliness. It will require a substantial changeover in fixtures, which creates an opportunity to persuade (or perhaps require) cities and utilities to adopt properly shielded (and more efficient) fixtures. The threat is that if the changeover occurs without much attention to better shielding, we will have missed our chance to achieve improvement for the depreciation/replacement life cycle of the new unshielded fixtures - the utilities and cities will be very reluctant to discard their investment until then, given all the other demands on revenues. It will be much harder to make the economic case for efficiency through better shielding if the LED-based lights already appear to have achieved huge efficiency savings without them.
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Chris M., aka "First Sight"
Orion XT12i Dob with Moonlite CR-2 focuser
WO Megrez 90 refractor on UniStar Light mount
Nikon 10x50 Binoculars
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John Fitzgerald
In Focus
Reged: 01/04/04
Posts: 1218
Loc: AR
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I have talked with some light mfg reps in the past year. They generally seem to think the mainstream technology for LED street lighting is several years away. Right now they are too expensive for cities to buy, and the lumen output is below what the cities want.
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?
Observing since 1966
Messier Cert #898
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ForgottenMObject
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/11/04
Posts: 3585
Loc: Maryland, US
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I always find it funny that we "need" lots of bright lighting to "prevent crime." Now, while I am not advocating pitch black streets or some such nonsense, criminals don't actually gain some sort of super-human ability to see at night when they cross over to the other side of the law. They need light to commit their crimes - can't easily break into a house in total darkness (without a flashlight of course.)
Besides, if bright light prevented crimes, cities would be crime-free!
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Matthew
IDA member
XT8i, 10x50 binoculars, lots of eyepieces
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 3548
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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I live in a street with no lights and the crime is virtually nil - what crime there is is day time "walk ins" usually because the front/back door was left unlocked and unattended.
The local council have tried for 40 years to have street lights installed and the residents have said no every time. For good reason - it prevents crime!
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 10D
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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Madpc Paul
journeyman
Reged: 09/30/08
Posts: 8
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Interesting this...
The County of Essex in the UK has been piloting this turning lights off between 12 midnight and 5am. They have said it has been a success and that crime has dropped by 12%
(Robbers must be scared of the dark :-) so it is now to be expanded accross the whole county :-))))
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